2009 Goodguys Car Show - Double Trouble

The 2009 Goodguys Car Show Season Kicks Off With A Double Header In Sunny Southern California.

Swimming pools, movie stars, and palm trees. While easily confused with the lyrics of the Beverly Hillbillies television show theme song, it more aptly describes perpetually sunny Southern California. With the rest of the good ‘ol US of A still screwing around with snow blowers, umbrellas, and ice scrapers, we’re blessed with sunshine and blue skies. If you’re not from here, it’s OK to hate us, we’ll get over it. Just keep in mind, the stellar weather is the reason the Goodguys Rod and Custom Association always kicks off their show season in Camaro Performers’ backyard, and we’re not about to argue with them.

2/27

For 2009, Goodguys will be putting on 22 events across the country, and the best part is that eleven of those will feature the Air Ride Technologies’ Street Challenge Autocross. That’s up from nine events last year. It just goes to show how popular flogging cool cars through orange cones has gotten.

Anyone who is registered in the show is able to pilot their ride though the cone-strewn autocross course provided they pass a basic tech inspection. All the runs are timed, and at the end of the event, the winners take home killer prizes such as a set of BFGoodrich tires. Even drivers who don’t win still get to have a blast driving in ways that would only reward them with citations, compliments of their local law enforcement agency.

3/27

At the Costa Mesa event, the Goodguys held their Second Annual Editors Cup Challenge, enabling various magazine guys to battle it out for bragging rights and a sweet billet trophy. Last year it was our very own Nick Licata that captured the crown, but this year there was a new winner. The good news is that we kept the first place standing in “the family” since the winner was Steven Rupp driving our ongoing ‘68 project car named Bad Penny. (A note to any magazine editors reading this, we plan on winning next year as well, so get use to it.)

The Costa Mesa event was followed soon after by a show in Pleasanton, California, then another bounced down to Del Mar, California. Since both the Costa Mesa and Del Mar events included autocross action, we decided to “take one for the team” and attend both. With Project Orange Krate, Licata’s second-gen, still in the works, he managed to swipe a bunch of seat time in DSE’s stable of super bad-ass Camaros. It was two weekends of sunscreen, cameras, and skidmarks. Hey, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.